Pet stores????~Old topic

I keep reading the NO's to buy a puppy at a store. I am not buying one, but I do have 3 friends that want to go to the petstore this month and purchase a puppy. ONe of them wants a rottweiler, the other one wants a pug and the last one wants a husky. NOW I go my shadow as a gift from a family that owns the parents. They only had one litter and they neuter there dog. My question or maybe concern is I am seeing alot here that is a big mistake to buy them there and I was wondering why?? My thought on this were that if they came from a store that would be better but I guess I am wrong. I say once again this is our first dog and I am just trying to learn as much as I can. Please dont bash me I am kind of ignorant about this and will keep researching more as I go by. Thanks a lot

The problem with buying from pet stores is that most pet stores perpetuate the puppy mill industry. Most purebred puppies in pet stores come from factory type breeding puppy mills, where the dogs have little human contact outside of feeding and the females are little breeding machines that are bred every single heat from the first one until the day they die. Some live in deplorable conditions, having to live out their entire lives in tiny cages and sleeping in their own feces. The only exception to this is the stores that work with local humane societies to adopt out dogs, like Petsmart for example.

no responsible ethical breeder that cares about their offspring would ever give a puppy to a pet store to be sold. these puppies come from what we call puppy mills and backyard breeders . these types of people breed for only one reason to make money. they care nothing of the temperament, looks , health or quality of the parents or the puppies. most are kept in disgusting situations where they live, eat, poop and sleep in very tiny wire crates. most are bred til they literally die . that is why you should not get from a pet store. you will be supporting an industry that everyone in the world would like to see evaporate into thin air. also please please please discourage your friend from getting a rottweiler from a pet store. she may wind up with a rottie like the ones you hear in the news attacking people and kids.

speaking of petstores.. I was walking in the mall the other night and in the window of the store I see "KITTENS WANTED". So because.. I am killing time i went and asked what it was about.. they told me that "they would like kittens donated to the petstore" they say they give the kittens shots thats about it and they turn around and sell them for $100-250 a piece.. its disgusting.. I just couldnt believe it.. these poor animals are simply nothing but PROFIT.. makes me sick..

They perpetuate the puppy mill business. No reasponsible breeder who cares about her dogs would ever give them to a pet store. Speaking of pet stores, I went to one called Pet Planet, just to check it out. They had so many dogs, cats, birds, small animals, lizards, and fish it was sickening! You could tell that the pups wern't healthy. Their coats were greasy, and their eyes glazed over. The worst part was that fifteen miniutes, three pups were sold. I can't believe people!

LindyLou.. Im with you there.. people are crazy sometimes.. just sit and shake my head.. before i even considered buying a puppy.. I read a whole bunch of books.. I had to go on a waiting list for my pugs. It was like doing a real adaption.. we had to meet them.. and pick the one we wanted out of the litter.. and then come back to get him.. (but i got suckered into his sister too)lol.. people just get the itch to suddenly have a pet. probably to make the wife,girlfriend, kids happy run out and buy one..

In Philadelphia, i guess kittens are a "hot item"...pet stores want donated kittens, but then go and sell them for $60. I visited a pet store in a mall...the dogs were sneezing alot, and the guinea pigs looked sick (cloudy eyes, low energy). I'm sure the other animals there were really sick also. The temp was way too cold in there, and animals prob weren't healthy to begin w/. You'd figure health inspectors or someone would have to come in and look at these places.

In addition to the concerns about the puppy coming from a puppy mill, there are practical concerns. Puppies from pet stores are used to eliminating in their crates and sleeping in it. That makes it very difficult to housetrain as they will have lost a dogs natural instinct not the mess in their area.

I dont think that ALL petstore dogs are from Puppy Mills. My parents have 2 awesome dogs, from the pet store and they are wonderful dogs. No problems at all. All though I do agree Puppy Mills are horrible... Horrible... DOnt all these little dogs deserve good homes? I mean they are allready alive, and they are all in need of good homes, so why discourage someone from buying and giving an animal a good home?

In response to the post previous, by people buying the pups that are already there, that makes room for more to come in, if everyone and I mean everyone boycotted the petstore pups, they would be out of biz, then the puppy mills go out of biz!! Hooray!!!! I am soooo glad that ur parents dogs are healthy, but i have seen many dogs that are plagued with illnesses from improper breeding and from the horrible conditons their parents were kept in. We as animal lovers are the only ones who can stop this brutality against animals!!! I say Educate yourself and friends about these petstores and puppy mills every chance u get. Adopt a dog that is at a shelter, or if u want a purebred, get a good realiable breeder get on a waiting list and make an informed and healthy choice!!!! Just my opinion!!

I know of at least 4 diffrent so called breeders here that sell puppies to a man that comes from up state VA and buys the puppies for a very small price and takes them to pet stores and of corse they sell them for out of the roof prices. But these people have the most nasty places and a lot of the pups are sick have lice and very wormy, some die before they get there. there is one lady I have tried to get put out of the county but I have still had people come to me wanting a pup because one they bought from a lady on "Big A Mountain" and gave $150 for died and they thought they were getting a good deal the puppy was a little puny and the place was nasty but they could take it to the vet and it would be ok. WRONG. People don't do anything because "it was only $150" if a lot more of them would complain something might get done.

you should tell your friends to go to a bunch of shelters first to see if what they are looking for is there, it would be much cheeper and may even be in better health then a pet store. as for me, i would only go to a shelter to buy any type of animal, as long as it warm and has fur (i don't care much for reptiles) if more people cared to look into buying from a shelter, the population of unwanted dogs would be less and the need for anytype of kill shelter wouldn't be needed, at least, they wouldn't have to kill so much.

Just a note, they do have pure breds at the shelter's too. That's how I got my golden and I have never had a better behaved dog, it's almost like he knows we saved him. I have also bought from reputalble breeders and the most important quality that you can see right up front, in my opinion, is that a reputable breeder will not just hand over a puppy to anyone. Like someone else said, it's almost like adopting a baby. As it should be. I have my golden that's pure bred, but of course with no papers since he came from the shelter, my pug and chi both have papers, but my pug is fixed and the chi will be fixed when she is old enough. And just so no one gets offended, I have had mixed breeds in the past too and they have been wonderful dogs. It's like a personality between the dog and owner has to click, the type of dog really doesn't matter to me. I like them all. If I were rich and lived in the country I would adopt as many as I could. For right now I have enough.

Puppies in pet stores are from puppymills, no "reputable breeder" would sell to a petstore. Tell your friends to go to petfinder.org , check out the breeds & find a shelter near you with that breed. I have a Shih Tzu that is a retired breeder from a mill in WI, I got her thru a rescue group. I also have a Bichon that came out of a puppymill in MO., another rescue group. Then there is our Border Collie gotten from a reputable breeder and last but not least our little 5# Sr. Yorkie-poo that I got from our local shelter, he was picked up along a busy road w/a fish stringer around his neck. The purebreds are out there & you can adopt them without paying the big bucks you'd pay at a pet store & you'd truly be saving a life!

In my opinion if you can buy your pet "on sale" or "on clearance" or "holiday special" it is not going to be the highest quality dog. and yes...I was in a pet store last summer, and they had a clearance "bin" 4 puppies about 7-8 months old, I wanted to smack the owner!